


Pictures at an Exhibition

by RachaelGold



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M, Fluff, very short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-05-06 04:18:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14633928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RachaelGold/pseuds/RachaelGold
Summary: Chakotay takes his sister Sekaya on a late night tour of Voyager.Setting: Post Endgame





	Pictures at an Exhibition

Sekaya smiled as she looked at the image. There was the be-whiskered Neelix fighting for his life with a flaming frying pan. He looked exactly as her brother had described him to her. She could recognise them all. They were all exceedingly familiar to her. She'd heard story after story since her dear brother had come home. 

It was an interesting diversion. He had taken her, after hours, to look around the exhibition celebrating Voyager's return. They were privileged to look round in private, an honour accorded to Chakotay since he was one of the handful of people who had been on the ship herself during her unplanned exploration of the Delta Quadrant. 

They were here, eerily alone aboard Voyager, now a museum standing on the Presidio. He'd shown her the Bridge, the Messhall, his quarters, his office. She could picture it all, as if it was right there unfolding before her eyes: the heroes were vibrant, the adventures colourful, the aliens exotic. His stories were so vivid. 

Now they were in the final room, the Cargo Bay, which had been turned into an exhibition area. They'd seen the artefacts, the objects of art, musical instruments, curiosities and even weapons and instruments of torture. She was pleased when they moved past these. Now they were looking at the holo-images, swathes of them mounted on long dark screens. Landscapes and aliens, crew members and talent shows. Everything was there to represent the journey, from the unimaginable to the ordinary, the little things so dear to everyday life. 

She watched her brother warily from the corner of her eye. He'd skipped quickly past the images of Seven. That didn't surprise her. She knew he'd been disappointed with how things had turned out. He'd felt used by the woman, as if he'd been the subject of some bizarre experiment into human interaction. 

She tracked her brother from a distance, not wishing to intrude upon his private thoughts, but concerned for him. He'd been melancholy of late. However, he was smiling now, as he looked at a group picture, some happy occasion when all the crew were letting their hair down. The Delta Quadrant had had its good moments. 

He moved on, and it didn't escape Sekaya's notice that he was inexorably drawn towards the pictures of her, like a moth to a flame. At first when they'd arrived home, he talked and talked, and the name Kathryn Janeway had been woven through almost every one of his tales. Her name had been constantly on his lips, despite his relationship with the younger woman. She could sense his deep respect, his intense friendship, his longing for her company, his disappointment that she'd stayed away. And she'd sensed the unresolved feelings too, though he'd never openly voiced them. She'd breathed a massive sigh of relief when Seven had left. She'd known that particular relationship had been all wrong. 

He stopped in front of a picture of the two of them together. Sekaya drew up beside him, offering her quiet support. 

"New Earth?" 

"Yes," he answered wistfully. 

"A happy moment." 

"Oh, yes." 

She nodded towards another image of the two of them. "And that?" 

"Neelix's luau." 

He stepped away. Being the Captain, there seemed to be more pictures of Kathryn Janeway than anyone else, some from the journey, some from before it. He grinned at a picture of a small russet-haired girl with her arm around a dog. Next to it was an image of an older girl with pig-tails, swash-buckling with a tennis racket. 

Another image showed a sparkling new ensign, proud and polished to the extreme, with a rather familiar bun on her head. She looked exactly as one would have expected, newly fledged from the Academy. 

Chakotay rounded a corner and stopped dead in his tracks. For a moment, he seemed unable to breathe. 

Sekaya moved towards him, observing the glazed look in his eyes. She wondered what he was looking at with such awe. She turned and saw the portrait. It was labelled "Image by Phoebe Janeway. Part of a series taken on behalf of the subject's fiancé, Justin Tighe." It showed a confident, sensual young woman, aged in her twenties. At that moment, Sekaya realised just how deep her brother's feelings for Kathryn Janeway ran. 

"She was beautiful," said Sekaya, quite taken with the picture herself. 

"She still is," said Chakotay, struggling to get the words past the lump in his throat. "Older, but still very beautiful." 

"Yes. You miss her, don't you?" 

Chakotay nodded. "You've no idea how much." 

"I can guess. I know you, my brother." She studied him carefully. He looked close to tears. His estrangement from this woman had cut him badly. She knew he blamed himself, believed that his foolish liaison with Seven had driven a wedge between them. Her brother had no idea where his former Captain was, and her name was conspicuously absent from his conversation these days. 

"Is she with someone else?" she asked gently. 

"No." 

"Then there is hope. Someone must know where she is. What happened to your warrior spirit, brother?" 

Chakotay straightened his back and smiled. His sister knew how to focus his energy. "It's still there." 

"Then, what are you waiting for? Go get her. A woman, whose man will move mountains to be with her, knows she is loved." 

Chakotay nodded and turned to the exit. "You are right, sister. There is hope." His head was high and proud now, a renewed vigour in his step. He'd go. He'd get her. A true warrior always fights for his woman. 


End file.
